AR-15 Style 12 Gauge Shotgun – Akdal MKA-1919 RAAC

The Akdal MKA-1919 (no, middle name not Hussein) probably has the worst name ever for a gun destined for the American consumer market. But with AR-15 controls and an AR-15 look and detachable magazine, it should be a huge hit regardless. We put over 200 rounds through our test gun but failed to come up with a 100% reliable shotgun for self defense and 3 Gun competition though, and overall the gun is a dissapointment.

If you Google around on the gun, you will see that there have been a lot of complaints that the gun stovepipes, or failes to extract. This was our experiences as well.

After about 40 rounds the reliability did improve, but to date it is still not perfect.

The MKA-1919 may look like an AR-15, but the action is nearly identical to this Turkish made Charles Daily copy of what appears to be a Remington 11-43.

If you click to enlarge the picture, you will see that the MKA-1919 does have some modifications, but the guts are nearly identical to the Charles Daly.

At ten yards with 7 1/2 Federal target loads, the MKA-1919 patterns very well with the installed IC’ish choke.

It comes with two other chokes. This one seems to be fuller, though none are marked.

Federal low recoil buckshot patterned very well also, and the recoil wasn’t that much sharper than the target loads.

The removable carry handle has this rear adjustable sight. You can flip it between a peep hole and a notch, to line up with the triangular plastic front sight that is mounted directly to the barrel.

Both the handle and the front sight are easily removable to set the gun up as a flattop for using red dot or other sighting system.

The MKA-1919 uses a proprietary 5 round magazine and the 2 3/4″ and 3″ magazines are marked as such. There are aftermarket 10 round magazines available, but I have not yet seen a 3 round for deer season. One of our commenters here mentioned that a company called Tromix is making a plug for three rounds, so that’s pretty cool.

The 3″ shells are punishing, but seem 100% reliable in the gun.

Ten rounds of regular low recoil buckshot put all the pellets in a 8″ group, and if you can get the gun to run reliably, are a far better choice for self defense or tactical work

Back in January the Akdal MKA 1919 shotgun rocked GunsAmerica Magazine & Blog with the most reads of any SHOT Show article the first day. It is an AR-15 style design, with an M-16 ‘esque detachable handle, and 5 round box magazine. With the tactical and 3 Gun shotgun marked filled with tradition semi-autos and the thought to be fickle Saiga, a new, light (6.5 lbs.) and quick shooting tactical shotgun was big news, especially with AR-15 controls. Six months later we finally got a chance to actually shoot the gun, which is imported from Turkey exclusively by RAAC Firearms. The MSRP is $799 and the street price is slightly under that. Out of the box, our experience with the gun wasn’t very positive, but customized for 3 Gun, the MKA-1919 is said to be a good choice, and a good investment. It is hard to recommend a gun that isn’t always reliable out of the box, but the story on this gun isn’t that simple.

The first thing about the MKA-1919 is that it isn’t really an AR-15 design. The only real similarities to an actual AR-15 are the safety, magazine release and slide lever, and no AR-15 parts fit the gun out of the box. The other thing about the gun is that the out of the box performance hasn’t had a great reputation, and our test gun didn’t work that well either. The MKA-1919 needed a couple boxes of shells to run fairly reliably. Out of the box every magazine had at least one stovepipe or failure to extract until about 40 rounds in, which comes out to 8 magazines. This was with Federal target loads. Now she runs pretty well, but still experiences an occasional stovepipe jam. Once the gun looses up a bit more and comes apart and back together for cleaning, it will probably run reliably, but in today’s American firearms market, you really aren’t going to make it unless you can produce out of the box reliable guns. Our original SHOT article has had over 100,000 reads. If this gun had been all that it promised out of the box it would have garnered a huge following by now.

The MKA 1919 is made in Turkey by Ucyildiz Arms. They are predominantly the makers of blank firing and replica guns, as well as air guns. I wasn’t able to find much else on them, but back at SHOT Show, one of the big stories on this gun was that spare parts were readily available through RAAC, because the manufacturer, Ucyildiz, planned to support the guns as a steady product to the US. For 3 Gun and tactical trainers and shooters, who actually shoot their guns a lot, this is great news. Until the MKA 1919, in the US market, the Saiga 12 has been really the only player in the game for a magazine fed 12 gauge shotgun. Saiga guns are one of those love ’em or hate ’em things. If you get a good one, they run really well. If you get a bad one, good luck trying to get it to work right. And if are shooting 3 Gun with it, putting hundreds of rounds through your shotgun in a day, parts wear out, and if you can’t get parts that commonly fail, the gun is of no use. The Russians don’t sell parts. They sell guns, and if you want Saiga parts, you have to buy another Saiga gun. The 3 Gun customizers who have been working on Saiga guns for more than a decade seem to prefer the Akdal MKA-1919, so take that for what is worth. Saigas nearly always need serious work for hard shooting.

This is why, rather than return our MKA 1919 for another gun, or have it worked on by RAAC before putting out a review, we elected to let everyone know that we can confirm what many have heard. The gun doesn’t work so good right out of the box. In their defense though, RAAC could have sent us a slicked up gun to start, but they didn’t. They just grabbed one off the top of the pile and sent it. This gun has a one year warranty. If you can’t get your gun to work well, send it back and they’ll fix it. You might want to shoot it some before you do though. A 100 round brick of 12 gauge 7 1/2 shells will cost you less than it costs to ship the gun back for service, and it’s a heck of a lot more fun to run 20 mags through the old 1919. I think the gun will eventually settle in, or need very little modification. The 3″ shells, though we only shot 5 of them, ran perfect. It may just be a spring extractor issue.

If you look at the pictures here, you will see that the MKA 1919 is not at all an AR-15. Coincidentally, I had an old Charles Daly in the safe that is also made in Turkey that is the exact same action as this gun. I have two of these guns, and they resembles a Remington 11-43, but the release button is on the other side. I have no idea if these were made by the same factory, but though you can see where the MKA-1919 has been re-worked from what is apparently a Remington design, but the similarity is undeniable. I don’t think this is a “gotcha” or a negative at all really. It is somewhat comforting to know that the MKA-1919 isn’t a new design. They seem to have improved an old design that required rubber O rings, and mounted it in an ergonomically friendly package that is pretty versatile as shotguns go, and that can throw an enormous amount of firepower downrange.

We tested the MKA1919 for both real world tactical and 3 Gun environments. The recoil on the gun is manageable with both target loads and low recoil buckshot, but as 12 gauge shotguns go it isn’t the lightest. The kick on the MKA-1919 isn’t soft like a Berreta Extrema. I think it is more like my Benelli, which clangs you around some. The way the recoil pushes back reminded me most of a CETME, or HK91. The gun wants to come up much more than you would expect from an AR-10 type of design, which this gun resembles. You’d have to try it to see if the MKA-1919 fits your shooting style, but at a street price around $750 in black, it isn’t a huge risk to go buy one and see if you like it.

This is an interchangeable choke shotgun and it comes with two other chokes. I think they are Rem-Choke threads but had none on hand to interchange it with. The choke that comes in the gun is probably something like an Improved Cylinder, and we patterned that one and one other choke that looked like a Full at a 10 yard spread. You can see the patterning pictures here. Ten yards is the most you’ll see for a shotgun target in 3 Gun, so we tested it with 7 1/2 sized shot using standard Federal target loads.

The rear sight on the MKA-1919 is adjustable on the removable carry handle, and it shot to point of aim out of the box. That AR-15 style front sight is plastic and held on by a couple screws. It comes off easily, yet seems secure enough to rely on. We removed it and the handle after our first round of tests and mounted a Leapers red dot sight on the flat top rail. The rail is aluminum and integral with the upper. As a sighting platform, we tested it for holding point of aim and it is stable. This is probably not thought of to be a skeet or sporting clays guns, but with practice it might be effective. At present RAAC doesn’t have any 3 round magazines available for deer hunting in states with magazine restrictions, but one of our commenters here have mentioned that a company called Tromix has a plug that works. That would be a big plus for the gun, because you can use a rifled choke and shoot slugs, unlike most “tactical” shotguns. For the budget shooter who wants to compete and hunt with the same gun, a three round mag would make the MKA-1919 an option.

Federal low-recoil buckshot performed exactly the same as the target loads in the MKA1919 when it comes to reliability. The buckshot stovepiped at the same rate as the target loads in early shooting, then when the gun was running smoother, the buckshot also ran smoother. Recoil wasn’t noticeably sharper with the Federal buckshot than with the low brass target loads. It shot to the same point of aim, and ten rounds into one target produced a group less than 8 inches wide with the pre-mounted fairly open choke.

The most disappointing thing about the MKA1919 is that none of the furniture is true AR-15 style. Somehow RAAC was able to get these guns into the US with a pistol grip, probably because it is one piece with the rear stock. It may look like an AR-15 stock and forend, but it isn’t. However, as we explained in the first article on this gun back at SHOT Show, there are already several companies, like Firebird Precision, that specialize in tricking out the MKA-1919, to make it take AR-15 hardware, and even a real trigger group. The word on the street is that the MKA-1919 is the gun that is worth tricking out for 3 Gun, because it needs very little work, and again, spare parts are available. Eventually we hope to get one of the customized guns in for a test. If you look on Youtube, it appears that Krebs Custom is also going to do a version of this gun.

If you are plan to buy this gun for self defense, a question that comes up a lot is “does it take three inch” shells?” The painful answer to this question is yes, and they appear to work fabulously in the gun. The problem is, we found it above and beyond the call of duty to shoot more than one magazine worth. Three inch shells in the MKA-1919 are painful, and shot recovery is nearly impossible because the gun jumps considerably. There is a separate three inch magazine for three inch shells, and it most likely comes with one. Our test gun came from RAAC with three 2 3/4″ mags and one 3″ mag, but it most likely comes with one of each when you buy it through normal channels.

After my initial excitement about this gun at SHOT Show, it is something of a disappointment. I expected that I would be thrilled with the MKA-1919 and that we would buy the test gun from RAAC, but this gun will be going back. The MKA-1919 should be a new dominant gun in the 3 Gun world, but these reliability complaints have clearly plagued it. If you are a 3 Gun shooter on a budget, it could be that a customized version of the MKA-1919 will be worth sending out to a custom shop for modifications to make it reliable and more compatible with your AR-15 rifle. As a self defense weapon, you may want to likewise send the gun out for work. If it worked well, the MKA-1919 would be a great, light, ergonomically friendly semi-auto shotgun, and an awesome weapon. Out of the box, it isn’t an expensive gun, and the warranty should cover the reliability issues, but our first experience wasn’t very positive. Hopefully we’ll see this gun again, either with a tightened up Quality Control department in Turkey, or from the custom shops that make this gun really rock.

I’ve had one for almost 2 years, 600 + rounds of Remington heavy dram pheasant loads, slugs, buckshot, not a single malfunction. Love this shottie. The initial report gunsamerica did using LIGHT BIRDSHOT likely helped blunt the popularity of this great weapons system. You should have used buckshot and slugs

I am not currently in any way in the firearms industry, retail products, etc just an American gunner and 2nd Amendment activist who loves fighting shotguns. This one is a keeper and I want another. I’d bet my life on it. It’s as reliable as my FN SLP MK 1 as long as you use more powerful loads. I haven’t tried wimpy birdshot in it and don’t care even if it does not work well (It might, I don’t know, such ammo does not belong in a fighting shottie, anyway unless it’s the zombie apoc, for that you should have a pump shottie as a backup, anyway)

Just bought a MKA 1919. Got it home and burned up 50 rds of cheap ammo. I had several rds that jammed. The third box ran flawlessly. That last box made me smile. Can’t wait til daylight, plan on burning up about 100 rds.

Some folks just like to complain. I think it must make them feel knowledgeable and therefore important. Oh well, what do I know? Been at this stuff for 60 yrs. Just get out there, shoot it, enjoy it and shut up.

I just recently purchased the match version of this for use in 3gun and I just shot my first match with it and it performed flawlessly. When you get one new from the box you absolutely need to run 4 boxes of high quality ammo with at least 1300 velocity through it for proper break in. You will experience stove pipes otherwise if you choose to run lower velocities. Also check your magazine’s and make sure that center sections aren’t pinched in. Both of mine where and it caused excessive drag on the follower which will also cause ftf and stovepipes. I simply removed the baseplate’s and pulled the spring and follower and used a 3/4″ socket on an extension as a ram rod through the magazine and opened up the width until the follower moved easily throughout the mag. No more problems.
I am currently shooting Winchester AA 1200 velocity through it with no issues and will be testing lighter load to see what cycles reliable

If you are reading this buy a 1919 match and follow my suggestions and you will be fine

Just purchased an mka1919 xn
Took it to the range the gun fired 3 times & the PLASTIC feedramp BROKE!!
Took it back to the gun store i bought it from been 4 days & haven’t heard anything i need to know who to contact

You know, I’ve read a lot about the negativity about this gun. Maybe before someone talks negative about the gun, maybe they should use the right amo. I have the same gun and if you notice on the gun, it says 3inch. Winchester sucks, federal is OK, Remington 3 inch is the shit.

David just read your comment about use ing 3″ shell ( Remington’s ) work better with the MDK 1919. So you say 3″ Not 2.75/ 2 3/4 work the best. A lot of people talk bad about the gun … but to me it is like every things else … it has to go through a brake in period.

For states with a 3 round limit on shotguns, you actually need 2 round magazines, not 3. The 3 round limit is total for the weapon, including the chamber. Tube plugs only allow 2 in the tube, magazine fed guns can only have 2 in the mag. I got this confirmed by an Illinois conservation officer. YMMV in other states.

HAVING FEEDING PROBLEMS WITH BOTH 3 INCH AND 2/3.4 INCH AMMO.GUN IS LIKE NEW, WOULD LOVE TO SHOOT IT BUT IT TAKES UP SO MUCH TIME TO EJECT AND RELOAD ITS NO FUN ANYMORE,PLEASE TELL ME WHAT TO TRY.I BOUGHT 2 10 RD MAGS AND 4 5 RD MAGS .LIL HELP OR SEND ME INFO WHERE TO GO TO FIND HELP

Buy the Tooth and nail Gen2 magazine followers it totally changes the gun makes it run like a top. I had a ton of trouble before I switched out the followers. No malfunctions since changing the followers out.

So now that most of us realize that a ‘good’ semi-auto box fed tactical 12 guage is right behind the AR-15 as a top contender for everything…

Hey Kel-tec! quit ‘pumping so hard, Where’s the semi-auto BEEF! Or maybe Remington should come out the cave with a new model. The 870 is so obsolete that should be acclaimed to the hall of fame, along with the 1911 .45 ‘legend’, and the rest of the relics. You need fast follow up capacity to take out those mini-anti-privacy drones coming soon, to a theater near you!

I got mine a month ago, I experienced problems at first, FTF, FTE, with target shells, called customer service and they promptly send a full set of springs including a softer main spring. No one problem ever since. I love this gun.

Hey all
I love my making 1919 .i shot it in November at the
Blackwater shooters side shot gun match and got 2nd place! It ran perfect. I have put a gas ring booster in for light loads and lubed with frog lube. She kicks a bit with slugs but that is to be expected. I got rid of the plastic a2 sights and set up a ehotech red dot . The next thing will be a front rail and tromix trigger. The only problem I have is a mag pouch for the 10 round mags. I have shot a saiga 12 and it doesn’t compare the reloads are a lot faster with the mka.

I use to have a IZ109 Saiga12 5yrs back and it was a fun gun to shoot when it worked..apparently i got a Vodka Special that refused to cycle low brass and was very picky on high brass loads..I called RAAC and they took the gun back without any hesitation and sent it to there subcontracted warranty specialist TOM COLE of Cadiz Gunworks.Tom drilled a 3rd gas hole so the gun was able to cycle low brass..This solved most of the issues for the 1st year..In the second year the gun started to give problems again with the firing pin bolt..For some reason or the other the pin that holds the bolt together came loose..so the gun refuse to cycle both high brass and low brass which became extremely frustrating and i felt like throwing the gun away in the garbage..After figuring out what the problem was i had to take the pin that held the bolt together and hammer it to deform it so it would stay in place..After this issue was resolved i threw in my towel and end up selling it .The saiga 12 can be a really fun gun to shoot when it works..i also believe that the AK platform that it is built on is stronger than the AKDAL MKA 1919 due to more metal parts vs plastic e.g metal feed ramp vs plastic feed ramp.
My MKA 1919 that i bought is believed to be the 2nd gen version of this gun..mine does not have the paris hilton rhinestones in the safety and fire selector switch..My manual says that there is a break in period with this gun after you cycle a few hundred high brass shells..I did not do that.. i just bought a gas bushing and recoil reduction spring that cost me $27 and i can cycle low brass of many different brands all day long without fte or ftf..I also bought salem6 10round mag ext and the tooth and nail quad rail system with collapsible stock adapter..The gun functions 99.9% and looks mean and kickass..I favor this gun more in reliablity and functionality vs the Saiga 12..There is also another gun manufacturer that is making another 12gauge style assault weapon called the Origin 12 made by alliance armament. here is the youtube link.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmBLld7yz-g..the price on it is about 3 times as much as of the akdal and saiga 12 but it suppose to be very reliable out of the box.. also another 12 gauge box fed shot gun you guys may want to look into would be the vepr12..those work very well out of the box without modifications..

When this weapon first came out, I was going to jump on it right away.
Money is very tight right now and my cautous side came out.
Do your research DUMMY! I’m glad I did, I think I’ll wait for the new improved version!
Thanks, I would have made a big $$$ mistake.

I bought one! Okay so I was so intrigued by your write up here that I decided to buy the MKA 1919. So the first thing I wanted to do once I received it was to do some mods like stock, grip, and quad rail, before I even took it out to shoot. I just don’t like the stock or the fore grip, the stock is too long for me, and the thing just looks like it was made by Walmart.

So now I’ve been searching for days trying to get the parts I need to start the mods. I think I’ve finally located the stock, adapter and associated parts, also the hand grip but locating a quad rail for it so that I can start mounting stuff on is proving to be a pain in the a$$! Where in the heck do I get parts for this gun? Does anyone know of a quadrail that will fit this thing?

I have seen several critics about a shotgun based on the AR15. I have a 410 based on the AK47 and have looked at a 12 ga. Both take a 5 round or 10 round magazine. My 410 works well with buckshot or slugs. How about some info on them before I buy the 12 ga.

Nice write up. Someone should tell your boss that you’re getting paid WAAAY too much money. ONLY $750??? Now I happen to own a few guns that cost quite a bit more, but I think long and hard before spending over two hundred bucks for a new toy. For that kind of scratch, the damned thing should be dead nuts reliable after the initial clean and lube.

I bought a 1919 right after I read the initial article about the gun. I`ve put about 300 rounds through it. I have been very happy with it. I feel this article is unfair and has some wrong info. First, the MSRP is $699 for the black one you tested, not $799. I paid $699 for mine. I have seen them recently for $625 plus $20 shipping.
If you would have read the manual that comes with the gun, it states that 3-4 boxes of shells may be required before light loads will cycle correctly.
The rail is not plastic, it is metal and it is integral with the upper.
Tromix offers a plug for the mag for hunting, and its cheap. Both Tromix and Firebird make some cool stuff for these guns. Most of these are to upgrade not to fix it.

Thanks for going through this so well Ted. The rail mistake has been corrected and your information about the Tromix plug has been added. But I am holding the manual and nowhere does it say anything about breaking the gun in. This was the first thing we checked and it is not there. This would still be totally unacceptable, and in reality, this review was very kind. The performance of this gun out of the box is inexcusable.

My manual goes to 25. I wonder if you somehow got a early gun. They did have a problem with cycling anything other than high brass. I understand they fixed it with a different recoil buffer spring. I hope you get a chance to fire a different gun before forming a permanent opinion. Mine puts a smile on my face every time I blast away!
Just notice CenterFire has factory 2 rounders available. They are also carrying Firebird 10 rounders. A bit pricey at $139.

One is based on a successful military design, and one is a commercial design with bolt on evil clothing.

Add in an entry point ABOVE the Saiga in cost, not to mention the HUGE amount of magazines, and accessories available for the Saiga, and tell me again WHY this is a better value?

Seems to me that the key word spoken in the above review is “TROMIX”, yep, this is a new market for the accessory guys to step into. I can’t wait to see the 3000 dollar “T” modified shotguns on the auction sites for sale by people who got suckered into paying far too much for a name on a modified shotgun.

In all fairness, I own three Saiga’s, a 410 which has run perfectly from day one, my first 12 was used and broken in, and it runs bird shot fine, I have a new 12, the first I own that has the trigger guard moved back to the original position, based on NEED not a desire for looks, and its definitely going to need to be shot more to shoot el cheapo bird shot, but, thats expected.

And, to the admins, recommending something that doesn’t function out of the box just isn’t right, and it smacks of favoritism, or worse, PLUS I sold a CD shotgun to a fellow who went on to frag it from using the wrong gas rings, something NOT in the manual BTW, at that time, so I have to add my CD experience to this, as well, no, its not a good design to begin with.

Its a no brainer NOT to jump into this firearm at this time, unless you have a vested interest in making modified parts, or like to screw with things to make them work.

OH, had to add this.

ONLY 750 bucks to play with? Are we all so rich that we can drop that much on a whim toy, that may or may not function out of the box? And then be stuck with a product that already has a bad rep, and is going to end up being a three legged dog to get rid of at an auction site??

I see this sitting in my closet next to the TEC 22 that once fired 200 rounds and quit working…..

“Out of the box, it isn’t an expensive gun….” I realize, being on Social Security, I’m at the bottom of the totem poll economically but is $750 – $800 really considered inexpensive to anyone other than the wealthy? Especially with the economy in the toilet. I’d love to have one of these but for that much money on top of having to cough up a small fortune in “custom work” it’s way out of my range.
I wish people would have fought the BS, illegal and unconstitutional reclassification of the Street Sweeper. If so it would, most likely, still be in production and probably more affordable than either the 1919 or offerings from Saiga.

@Ken, I too wish people would have fought the BS, illegal and unconstitutional reclassification of the Street Sweeper. It is a bulky shotgun that takes a long time to reload. It wont shoot 3″ shells and the instructions say to not use magnum shells. Sure, it was cheap. The manufacturer over hyped the gun as to the rate of fire (4 rounds per sec). Hollywood showed it doing things no shotgun can do. That’s why it was banned. The lack of sporting aspect of the Street Sweeper was one of the things the law used to ban it. It only held 12 rounds and like I said took forever to reload. A Saiga 30rnd drum is available and only takes seconds to change. Box Mag weapons are MUCH more effective weapons. The revolver design of the Street Sweeper left no shell casings for the CSI to find.

I know it’s supposed to be a “AR-15 style” but it’s just the Charles Daly shot gun with AR-15 furniture if it used the buffer assembly of a AR-15 it would rule all firearms but just modifying a shotgun to look like AR is not very impressive sorry but thumbs down for me

I purchased my 1911 a few mounths,I have shot nothing but double oo with it,I have not had any problems with stove pipes or any other malfunction.It is light,the recoil I thougnt is very mangeable.I a Happy with it I only wish they had ten round mag’s for this weapon.

So, from everything I am reading, if I buy couple hundred rounds of 2 3/4, go to the range and shoot all day, contending with any stove pipes or FTF/FTE, it should be broke in for me so that when I stick 3″ rounds for self defense in, I am set. I can do that for this type of shotgun. Plus, it is my excuse to go stay at the range all day.

The Achilles heal of the MK1919 is not the gun but limitation of 5 rnd magazines. Higher Capacity has mfg a coupler and spring that will adapt the Akdal metal magazines to the plentiful 10 and 12 rnd SureFire Saiga magazines. This changes the Akdal mags to 10, 12, and even 20 rnd magazines. A must for competition users, the Akdal/Saiga kit @ $59.95 cost.

I really like HAMR, looks like a bteetr brother of ACOG (which is not Paralax free, but issued to me for free ). I also like you actually using the cover when shooting, transition of shoulders etc., nice job. Looks to me like kind of IDPA match, am I right? I have found IDPA more satisfying my needs than IPSC. I actually stopped attending IPSC matches, because of it being sport and not defensive shooting anymore (opportunity to walk the stage before, no punishment for not using the cover, most people dressing like cyclists with unpractical cyborg holsters instead of something realistic etc. itb4s nice sport, but at some stage it started to teach me bad habits no control of space after shooting, I mentioned the cover use already and some more stuff). Thanks for your posts really nice guns ang shooting skills!

Here is my exprience with the MKA 1919. I purchased one in March of this year and it worked like the gun in your review. I called RAAC and talked to them about it. They emailed me a shipping label to return it free of charge . With in less than 3 weeks I had a new one . This one shot everyting I have thrown at it, from the cheapo federal 2 3/4 to the 3 in buckshot. I did not clean it, just went straight out to the range to see what punishment it would take. After 200+ rds I have only had 1 failure to feed. It was a cheapo shell that had a small dent in the brass.(It did not want to go into the mag).
RAAC customer service was great. They stand behind their product

1) The light loads don’t cycle reliably in the gun without something like the Tromix gas ring–there’s not enough gas in low-brass loads to make the gun cycle fully.

2) In addition to the gas ring, slather the bolt with oil. A friend of mine clued me into that when I shot mine for the first serious range session.

3) The parts really start to wear in after about 60 rounds–I put 100 downrange in my first range session, and it cycles very well now. I’m planning on pulling the gas ring to see if it’ll cycle low brass stuff now without it, so I don’t have to worry about removing the ring when I want to shoot slugs or buckshot.

I’ve been pretty happy with the gun since I got it running. While I understand your disappointment, you need to remember that there are really only two magazine-fed shotguns–and this one works better than the other one. I have a friend who’s a big Saiga proponent, and he’s thinking of ditching his for a 1919. The other thing to remember is that the gun was originally designed for Turkish military and police–guys who DON’T shoot target loads. Remember, these guys have a huge terrorism problem in their country, and actually see combat on a regular basis–especially their police. They’re shooting full power high-brass loads. You shouldn’t expect to see issues with 2 3/4″ high brass stuff, and probably won’t. Run 40 rounds of that thru the gun and see how many stovepipes you get. You should have known that.

You seem to think that the Turkish gun makers don’t know how to make a low brass consumer shotgun, even though, as explained in the article you didn’t read, it is nearly the exact same action as the Charles Daly here that shoots low brass loads just fine. The only consumer guns allowed in Turkey for its own citizens are, drum roll please, shotguns. The Turks know how to make reliable shotguns I can assure you. And while these tips are definitely appreciated and we thank you, this level of care to get an out of the box firearm to work is completely out of line in the the American gun market at present. This isn’t 1982. Out of the box guns work and and accurate these days, and unless this company can pull itself together and make reliable guns, this gun has no future outside of niche custom shops.

Oh , and speeking of reading you should read the owners manual which tells you that the chokes are marked with cuts on the rim IE…
AMMUNITION
All steel or lead shot 12 gauge shotgun cartridges manufactured and loaded with current U.S. industry specifications can be used in the MKA 1919 shotgun. This shotgun has 3 inch chambers and may be used with all standard commercially manufactured 2 ¾ inch (70mm) and 3 inch (76mm) shot shells. It is intended to be used with only standard ammunition of the proper gauge and loading. Remember that the shotgun functions by the use of kinetic energy generated by the recoil. Therefore, one must always use ammunition that is strong enough to fully cycle the action. The MKA 1919 shotgun may require a breaking in period before it will function using light loads. If you experience any initial functioning problems, we recommend firing 3-4 boxes of standard hunting cartridges.
AMMUNITION DISCLAIMER
THE MANUFACTURER DISCLAIMS ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR DAMAGE OR INJURY THAT OCCURS IN CONNECTION WITH OR AS A RESULT OF USING FAULTY, NON-STANDARD, REMANUFACTURED, HANDLOADED (RELOADED) AMMUNITION OR OTHER SHOTSHELLS OTHER THAN THOSE FOR WHICH THE FIREARM WAS ORIGINALLY CHAMBERED.
AMMUNITION WARNING: FIREARMS CAN BE DAMAGED, AND DEATH OR SERIOUS INJURY MAY RESULT FROM ANY CONDITION WHICH GENERATES EXCESSIVE PRESSURE OR UNCONTROLLED RELEASE OF GAS WITHIN THE FIREARM. THESE ADVERSE CONDITIONS CAN BE CAUSED BY CHAMBER OR BORE OBSTRUCTIONS, PROPELLANT POWDER OVERLOADS, OR BY OLD, DEFECTIVE, INCORRECT, OR IMPROPERLY LOADED AND ASSEMBLED SHOTSHELL COMPONENTS. IT IS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS TO USE A SHOTSHELL THAT’S PRESSURE EXCEEDS THOSE DEVELOPED TO INDUSTRY STANDARDS. ANY FIREARM CAN BE BLOWN UP WITH EXCESSIVE PRESSURE.
LEAD EXPOSURE WARNING: POSSIBLE LEAD EXPOSURE CAN OCCUR WHEN DISCHARGING FIREARMS IN A POORLY VENTILATED AREA, CLEANING THE FIREARM, OR HANDLING AMMUNITION. LEAD AND ITS COMPONENTS IS A SUBSTANCE KNOWN TO CAUSE BIRTH DEFECTS, REPRODUCTIVE DESTRUCTION/IMPAIRMENT, CANCER, OR OTHER SERIOUS HEALTH CONDITIONS AND INJURY. ALWAYS HAVE ADEQUATE VENTILATION AT ALL TIMES AND WASH YOUR HANDS AND OTHER CONTACT AREAS THOROUGHLY AFTER EACH EXPOSURE. pg 22

CHOKE SET
THE AKDAL MKA 1919 SHOTGUN COMES WITH 3 SCREW-IN INTERNAL CHOKES (FULL, MODIFIED AND CYLINDER BORE). EACH CHOKE CAN BE IDENIFIED BY THE NUMBER OF NOTCHES ON IT (FULL-1 NOTCH, MODIFIED-3 NOTCHES, AND CYLINDER BORE-5 NOTCHES). A CHOKE WRENCH IS SUPPLIED IN THE BOX WITH THE CHOKES. BEFORE YOU ATTEMPT TO INSTALL A CHOKE ALWAYS PERFORM A SAFETY CHECK TO MAKE SURE THAT THE SHOTGUN IS UNLOADED AND POINTED IN A SAFE DIRECTION. TO INSTALL THE CHOKE YOU CAN INSERT IT INTO THE END OF THE BARREL AND HAND SCREW IT. IT CAN THEN BE TIGHTENED WITH THE CHOKE WRENCH TO SECURE IT IN PLACE.
SCREW-IN CHOKE WARNING
NEVER PEER DIRECTLY INTO THE SHOTGUN’S MUZZLE OR CHANGE CHOKES WHEN THE GUN IS LOADED REGARDLESS OF THE POSITION OF THE SAFETY. NEVER FIRE THE SHOTGUN IF THE SCREW-IN CHOKE IS NOT FULLY AND TIGHTLY BOTTOMED TO THE BARREL THREADS, OR IMPROPERLY INSTALLED OR “CROSS-THREADED, OR IF THE THREADS OF THE BARREL OR CHOKE INSERT IS DAMAGED. IN THIS SITUATION THE BARREL WILL BE DAMAGED AND THE CHOKE INSERT WILL BE PROPELLED OUT OF THE MUZZLE WITH HIGH VELOCITY WHICH CAN RESULT IN DEATH, SERIOUS INJURY, OR PROPERTY DAMAGE. NEVER FIRE THE SHOTGUN WITHOUT THE SCREW-IN CHOKE IN PLACE AS IT WILL CAUSE AN UNPREDICTABLE SHOT PATTERN AND DAMAGE THE CHOKE THREADS IN THE BARREL THUS MAKING CORRECT INSTALLATION OF THE SCREW-IN CHOKE IMPOSSIBLE WITHOUT EXPENSIVE RE-BARRELLING. NEVER USE OTHER MAKES OF CHOKE TUBES EXCEPT FOR THE AKDAL BRAND AND NEVER ALTER ANY COMPONENTS PROVIDED WITH YOUR SHOTGUN.
pg 23